Resilient toothbrush

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns a toothbrush comprising a handle and a brush head, which is equipped on one side with clusters of bristles, a resilient connection being provided between the handle and the brush head. When pressure is exerted on the surface formed by the free ends of the clusters of bristles, the connection allows the brush head to be deflected relative to the handle. This is achieved in that the connection is formed by a hinged rectangle whose axes of rotation extend transversely to the longitudinal extension of the handle and the bristles, and in that the distance between the two hinges closest to the brush head is less than or equal to the distance between the two hinges closest to the handle.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention concerns a toothbrush with a bristle carrier equipped withbristle bundles on one side, with a handle, and with an elasticconnection between the handle and the bristle carrier, which makespossible a deflection of the bristle carrier with respect to the handlewhen pressure is exerted on the surface formed by the free ends of thebristle bundles.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The toothbrush is still the essential and most reliable aid forindispensable dental hygiene. When using a brush to clean teeth,however, pressure is always exerted on the teeth with the bristles andthus unavoidably also on the gums. This pressure is measured out onlywith difficulty by human sensation and the hand, so that on one hand, asufficient cleaning of the teeth and their gaps is brought about, and onthe other hand, the gums are not injured by excessively high pressure.

Toothbrushes available on the market, with an elastic brush head and asdescribed, for example, in European Patent No. 0,371,293 A2, do notprovide any remedy here since they are constructed in such a manner thatthe bristle head gives way with the pressure exerted, but the bristlesurface is inclined away from the bristle head. This means that whenpressure is exerted on the bristle head, the one-sided bristles areinclined away from the cleaning surface, but via the bristles on theside of the handle, the same unreduced pressure is exerted on asubstantially smaller bristle surface. These toothbrushes are thereforenot to be considered as an improvement but rather are to be evaluated asdisadvantageous, since the risk of injury to the gums is not reduced,but rather is even increased by a smaller effective area of the bristletips.

European Patent No. 0,339,350 A1 describes a toothbrush whose brush headcan be moved by a two-part handle, consisting of an upper part and alower part, in such a way that the surface of the brush head can assumevarious angles with respect to the handle. The disadvantage of thisbrush consists in the fact that the inclination must by adjusted by thehand and there is no way of avoiding that either the bristles close tothe handle or those of the tip of the brush are pressed more on theteeth and that therefore, there is no uniform pressure distribution overthe entire bristle surface. Furthermore, a considerable application offorce by the hand, which cannot be controlled and measured out for thedesirable purpose, is required to change the angle of inclination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The goal of the invention is, therefore, the construction of atoothbrush, which has an elastic bristle head, in such a manner thatupon deflection of the brush head, the surface formed by the freebristle ends of the bristle bundle is not inclined away from the handle,but rather retains the parallel alignment with respect to the handle orinclines against the handle, so that it is always ensured that the fullcleaning effect of the entire bristle surface is used and no pressurepeaks with respect to the gums appear.

The goal is thereby attained in that the connection is formed by afour-bar linkage, whose turning axes run transverse to the longitudinalextension of the handle and the bristles, and that the distance betweenthe two links, facing the bristle carrier, from one another is smalleror the same as the distance between the two links, facing the handle,from one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The construction of the toothbrush in accordance with the invention isillustrated, by way of example, in the figures. The individual figuresshow the following:

FIG. 1, a preferred shape of the toothbrush in a side view, in which atwo-side rod connection is present between the handle and the brushhead.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred shape of the toothbrush in top view, in which athree-tie rod connection is present between the handle and the brushhead.

FIG. 3 shows a sectional drawing of the toothbrush in accordance withFIG. 2 along the intersecting line A-B in a side view.

FIG. 4 shows a sectional drawing of the toothbrush in accordance withFIG. 2 along the intersecting line C-D in a side view.

FIG. 5 describes the mode of functioning of a toothbrush in accordancewith FIG. 1 with two tie rods, which are arranged in trapezoidal formwith respect to one another, that is, on the handle part, having agreater distance from one another than at the brush head.

FIG. 6 describes the mode of functioning of a toothbrush in accordancewith FIG. 1 with two tie rods, which are arranged in trapezoidal formwith respect to one another, that is, on the handle part, having agreater distance from one another than at the brush head.

The reference symbols given in the figures have the following meaning:

1 Bristle carrier

2 Link

3 Link

4 Diagonal tie rod

5 Slide tie rod

6 Link

7 Link

8 Slot

9 Handle

10 Bristles

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention concerns a toothbrush with a bristle carrier (1),connected elastically with the handle (9), with bristle bundles (10)arranged therein on one side, which can be moved by exerting pressure onthe surface of the bristle bundle (10) in such a way that the surface ofthe bristle bundle (10) always runs parallel to the handle (9) or isinclined against it.

This is attained by a multiple-tie rod, preferably 2- or 3-tie rodconnection between the handle (9) and bristle carrier (1), wherein theconnecting sites of the tie rods (4,5), with the handle (9) or thebristle carrier (1), have the function of links (2,3,6,7). Diagonal tierods (4) and slide tie rods (5) are preferably tapered at these pointsto increase the elastic link effect. An elastic effect can, however,also be attained by using a more elastic material in the area of theconnecting points.

In a preferred specific embodiment, the toothbrush, in accordance withFIG. 1, has a diagonal tie rod (4) and a slide tie rod (5), in which theindividual distances between the links (2) and (3) and (6) and (7) arethe same. Upon exerting pressure on the bristle bundle (10), the surfaceof the bristle bundle (10) is displaced parallel to the handle (9), asshown in FIG. 5.

If the toothbrush according to FIG. 1 is designed in such a way that thehandle (9) is constructed thicker, in comparison to the bristle carrier(1), than the distance between the links (6) and (7) is larger than thatbetween (2) and (3). Pressure on the bristle surface then leads to anelastic movement in such a way that the bristle surface is inclinedtoward the handle (9), as is shown schematically in FIG. 6.

What is claimed is:
 1. Toothbrush with a bristle carrier (1) having afirst side and a second side, the bristle carrier being equipped withbristle bundles (10) having free ends and bound ends bound on the firstside, with a handle (9), and with an elastic connection between thehandle (9) and the bristle carrier (1), the elastic connection capableof allowing a deflection of the bristle carrier (1) with respect to thehandle (9) when pressure is exerted on the surface formed by the freeends of the bristle bundles (10), characterized in that the connectionis formed by a four-bar linkage (2,3,6,7), whose turning axes runtransverse to a longitudinal extension of the handle (9), and thebristles (10), and that the distance of the two links (2,3) facing thebristle carrier from one another is smaller than the distance of the twolinks (6,7), facing the handle (9), from one another characterized inthat the connection formed by the four-bar linkage (2,3,6,7) has threetie rods between the handle (9) and the bristle carrier (1). 2.Toothbrush according to claim 1 characterized in that the elasticconnection produces an elastic effect which is brought about by atapering of the tie rods (4,5) on the links (2,3,6,7).
 3. Toothbrushaccording to claim 1 characterized in that the elastic connectionproduces an elastic effect which is brought about by using a moreflexible material on the links (2,3,6,7).
 4. Toothbrush with a bristlecarrier (1) having a first side and a second side, the bristle carrierbeing equipped with bristle bundles (10) having free ends and bound endsbound on the first side, with a handle (9), and with an elasticconnection between the handle (9) and the bristle carrier (1), theelastic connection capable of allowing a deflection of the bristlecarrier (1) with respect to the handle (9) when pressure is exerted onthe surface formed by the free ends of the bristle bundles (10),characterized in that the connection is formed by a four-bar linkage(2,3,6,7), whose turning axes run transverse to a longitudinal extensionof the handle (9), and the bristles (10), and that the distance of thetwo links (2,3) facing the bristle carrier from one another is the sameas the distance of the two links (6,7), facing the handle (9), from oneanother characterized in that the connection formed by the four-barlinkage (2,3,6,7) has three tie rods between the handle (9) and thebristle carrier (1).
 5. Toothbrush according to claim 4 characterized inthat the elastic connection produces an elastic effect which is broughtabout by a tapering of the tie rods (4,5) on the links (2,3,6,7). 6.Toothbrush according to claim 4 characterized in that the elasticconnection produces an elastic effect which is brought about by using amore flexible material on the links (2,3,6,7).